I am wondering what software programs Omniglot members use to type their conscripts into documents that can be shared with fellow conlanglers via the internet. Are you using font editors or other types of programs? What are your favorites?

most people don't go as far as a software program to type a fonted script

most people create their script in some sort of image using some sort of image software [most often freeware] and then use a romanization scheme to share their conlang with others



most people don't

here's a nice [other type of] program

http://fiziwig.com/glyphmaker.zip by Gary Shannon [note: its free]

and another

http://www.gimp.org/ [note: its free]







you should look at the conscript entries on omniglot and check how many of them have fonts...i think you might figure out that most people simply stick with either a pen and paper, or image software, or simply use romanization to 'share' their language

This thread is a little old, but I thought I'd share my opinion anyway.


I'm very new at this, but I've just made up a con-script for a yet to be invented conlang, and here's what I've tried so far...

I tried making the script in GIMP, but was unhappy with my first attempt and needed to start over. For my second attempt, I decided to try something different and downloaded FontForge so I could make it as a true-type font instead of an image file.

FontForge isn't the easiest program to work with, especially if you're new to it, but I now have my con-script in True-Type format, and I'm glad I made the effort. By using the text tool in GIMP, I can easily type the characters into an image file at any size I want, and can use it in documents as well.

I've no experience with sharing con-scripts or conlangs with others yet, but it seems to me that there are three ways to share conlangs with custom scripts, and a true-type font can help with all.

1. Put your con-script into an image file showing transliteration, and share your language as a plain-text transliteration with the image file to show how it's supposed to look. If you have a true-type font for your script, it'd be a simple matter to change the font size until you find the perfect size for the image, without degrading the crispness of the symbols by resizing raster graphics.

2. Distribute your conlang as a zip file containing an office document describing your language, and a true-type font they can install to view it correctly.

3. Make up an office document on your own computer as above, but save it as a PDF file. That way anyone can view it directly without having to install a special font.

So a font editor would be a very useful tool for making and sharing con-scripts for a conlang.